NG 628

New game 628 is now available.

The re-run is episode 358; its rounds are here and its writeup is here.


Round 1: C S O T J E A R M

I had COST, COTES, COASTER, and COMATES.

The other sevens are MAESTRO / OMERTAS (OMERTA: "the code of silence adhered to by members of the Mafia"), CAMOTES (CAMOTE being a variant spelling of KAMOTE, a Philippine English term for a sweet potato), SCREAMO ("a music genre of the early 1990s, derived from emo and hardcore punk"), and RAMJETS (RAMJET: "a jet-propulsion engine operated by the injection of fuel into a stream of air compressed by the forward speed of the aircraft").

But there is an eight to be found here: SCRAMJET ("a type of ramjet in which the hydrogen fuel is injected into a compressed airstream following at supersonic speed").

My selection: COASTER
Best: SCRAMJET


Round 2: O C P A A S R L D

I had CAPO ("a leader in the Mafia organisation"), CAPOS, CRAPS (thinking of the gambling game rather than anything scatological), POLAR, SALAD, and CAROLS.  After time I checked up on CARLOADS, but it is not listed (my later checking did turn it up from the Scrabble word list, though).

The eights are PLACARDS and CRAPOLAS / CAPORALS (CAPORAL: "a kind of tobacco").  The sevens are PLACARD, CRAPOLA / CAPORAL, CARPALS, and PARASOL.

My selection: CAROLS
Best: PLACARDS


Round 3: Target 496 from 100 75 5 9 9 1

I wanted to make this as 500 - 4, but needed the 5 in order to make the 4.  Fortunately I noticed that a tweak would work, giving me 496 = 5*(100 + 1) - 9.  Then I found an untweaked option of 496 = (9 - 1)*75 - 100 - (9 - 5).

My selection: 496 = 5*(100 + 1) - 9


Round 4: L U K E N E S W I

I had LUNK, KNEEL, KNEELS, WELKINS (WELKIN: "Archaic the sky; the vault of heaven"), was unsure about SUNLIKE (not valid), and WINKLES.

WINKLES / WELKINS are the only sevens, and the best to be done.

My selection: WINKLES


Round 5: O I T E G I H N D

I had EIGHT, TOEING, HIDING, NIGHTIE, was unsure about THONGED (not valid), INDIGO, IGNITED, and HOGTIED.

The other sevens are DIETING / EDITING, EDITION, and INGOTED.

My selection: IGNITED


Round 6: Target 228 from 50 75 1 3 2 5

The standard method says to make this as 225 + 3, and I went with the tweak: 228 = 3*(75 + 1).

My selection: 228 = 3*(75 + 1)


Round 7: T A H I R Y O O R

Ergh, an unpleasant set.  I had HAIR, HAIRY, THORIA, and ROTARY.  After time I noted other sixes of RARITY and HOORAY.

The seven to be had is ORATORY.  The other sixes are ORATOR, ARROYO (a creek or stream), and HORARY ("relating to an hour; indicating the hours").

My selection: ROTARY


Round 8: Target 416 from 25 50 100 4 2 3

The target is 4*104, and so I went with 416 = 4*(100 + 2*50/25).  Then I spotted an alternative of 416 = 4*100 + (50 - 2)/3.

My selection: 416 = 4*100 + (50 - 2)/3


Round 9: GRUNT ONCE

I was not able to solve this one within time, alas.

My selection: [no answer]
Best: CONGRUENT